Same script, same scoreline and the same David de Gea. Nobody could pin Alexis Mac Allister's penalty on the Manchester United goalkeeper but this latest clanger will be.
De Gea has dropped dollies leading to goals on at least four occasions this season. In the last four weeks, he has contributed to United's ejection from the Europa League and his domestic form could ensure they stay in that competition next term.
At full-time, Victor Lindelof sheepishly clasped hands with De Gea. Lukasz Fabianski enveloped him sympathetically. De Gea stood the furthest away from the away end. Plenty who had remained were visibly apoplectic.
Also read: United player ratings vs West Ham
When the ball trickled through De Gea's gloves, many attendants in the press box put their hands to their head. Some in disbelief, some out of sympathy. Some West Ham fans sighed after Said Benrahma had connected with the ball, lamenting its apparent harmlessness.
The London Stadium replayed the goal a couple of times on the big screens so De Gea had a grim premiere of his howler with a sold-out audience.
This was another inexcusable mistake in a season littered with them. Brentford, Everton, Sevilla and now West Ham. De Gea's regression is so acute his performances in the run-in are reminiscent of four years ago. United promptly remunerated him back then.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw, the three defenders who surrounded Benrahma, practically dared him to shoot. The ball rolled at such a slow rate it would not have cut Daisies in a field.
De Gea is a goalkeeper who has metaphorically stood still in the last five years and his feet were awry for Benrahma's shot. He resembled a tail-ender bamboozled by a slow delivery. All of De Gea's teammates turned 180 degrees and stared at the centre circle.
It was not the only foot De Gea put wrong. He started both halves by passing to an opponent and his error was permission for West Ham to shoot on sight. Michail Antonio also had a goal chalked off for impeding De Gea at a corner. It is perverse United have held discussions with De Gea about a new contract.
Benrahma's goal charged an apathetic crowd more stirred by another upcoming European semi-final against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. Declan Rice, desperate to crown his West Ham career with silverware before an inevitable transfer, will have turned more heads with another eye-catching performance. For the second match running, Casemiro was schooled by a younger counterpart.
What had felt destined to be a successful season for United is in danger of ending in disaster. Liverpool are breathing down their necks, now only a point behind in fifth, and this was the second opportunity of the week for United to get some breathing space and rise to third.
United are unhappy to have been saddled with Thursday-Sunday slots in the Premier League, with their game in hand against Chelsea scheduled for the final Thursday of the campaign. A relentless schedule and a lack of quality in squad depth have taken their toll.
As has the squad mentality. This was another mental capitulation akin to Brentford, minus the London opponents hammering home their superiority. Not until added time was signalled did United suddenly embark on an attacking assault.
There is a reason the majority of punters predicted United to finish outside the top four back in August and that remains a possibility. Wherever Erik ten Hag turns, there is a squad member more sellable than playable.
United's profligate forwards contributed again. Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford and Antony all failed to hit the target from opportune angles. The latter two struck the upright. The closer United got, all of a sudden West Ham scored. With 70 minutes gone, Wout Weghorst was the only United player who had managed a clean attempt on target.
This was the third game running United had a different face leading from the front as Weghorst came in from the cold for his first start since Newcastle away on April 2.
United have two number nines whose numbers are up - the club are planning for next season without Weghorst and Anthony Martial. If they had a hybrid of the pair they would have a world-beater. The workhorse Weghorst charged back into his own area to spare De Gea after his first errant kick.
Weghorst made way for Martial 12 minutes into the restart to continue the merry-go-round. Weghorst was applauded appreciatively by the United supporters, alas his record now reads a dismal two goals in 27 games. Martial produced the best piece of attacking play in the 91st minute but Fabianski covered his near post.
For all the fluidity of United's attacking play under Ten Hag, they are still prone to static phases. Ten Hag implored United to play the ball to the right-hand side yet Wan-Bissaka was almost always the option and he remains a reluctant attacker.
Antony, piqued to be substituted again, is still often one-dimensional and Weghorst is more useful the further he plays away from goal. Rashford has five goals in his last 17 games, a derisory return from a forward on the cusp of breaking the 30-goal barrier.
The Premier League's pomposity to air the national anthem on the coronation weekend outed some of the Republicans in the United away end. One unfurled an Argentina flag, an apt location given United embraced their Argentinian identity at the Boleyn Ground as vitriol rained down on David Beckham almost a quarter of a century ago.
Fernandes, Lindelof and Casemiro led United out for their reemergence, pausing at the mouth of the tunnel to strategise one last time. Rashford conversed with De Gea and Benni McCarthy, the strikers' coach who may have to oversee additional shooting drills, advised Antony.
All talk and no action. United were worse in the second half. In added time, they won a corner and De Gea did not even offer to head to the opposite area.
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